PremortalThere used to be a brewery in Mannheim, Germany, and there probably still is. When I was over there some years ago, I had the chance to visit the brewery but missed it. I’m still annoyed after all these years. Just as twisted, judging by the artwork, track titles and lyrics of this album are Premortal Breath from the same city.

After the overt hype, I was disappointed with the musical output. The pattern is set with “Your Ruin”: a weak song, flat vocals but good, punchy guitar work and an old-fashioned melodic heavy metal riff. “Into the Light” again has a flamboyant riff and the breaks are worked well but it’s a dreary song. The songs are too wordy. Let the music breathe and speak for itself a bit more. Stylistically, it reminded a bit of Griffin but I found myself getting frustrated with “They”. The musicianship seems to be at odds with the vocals. There’s too much content. If it were pared down, it could be better. At best for me these are decent rock songs but if it sounds like faint praise, it probably is. There are occasional head-banging interludes, which add a bit of value, but at other times it gets too technical for no specific reason. “Pain” is a rock song of a US style, and Premortal Breath seem to want to be gods of the genre. “Give it to me” is the so say anthemic line but there’s no excitement. The title track takes this increasingly disappointing affair a step further. For a rock song, it’s too cluttered. Even the instrumentals now sound tired. “Pleasure” picks things up a bit. It’s well-structured, there’s a good riff and the step-downs are effective. Another problem then dawned on me. There’s no power. Actually, there is power but the band doesn’t exploit it and the mix isn’t strong enough. The epic start of “Trapped” but it’s all lost as Mr “Scary” Greulich croaks his way through it wearily and drearily. The instrumentals once again come out of it with some credit, as does the track structure in this case. Herr Greulich then paints pictures of “a wide opened gash in your throat” as “Bloody Baby Shower” brings the album to an end but this needs more atmosphere. Even the instrumentals are deadened save a nifty solo. Another track comes to a dreary end.

I think Premortal Breath may be on to something but “They” doesn’t work for me. It’s could have been so much more but as it is, it’s all out of sync. The excitement and interest lie in the art work. With this production, I couldn’t find any in the album, I’m afraid.

(5/10 Andrew Doherty)

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